Reviewed on Nov. 3, 2009
Runic's Diablo-like debut drills straight down to the core of what makes a great dungeon-crawling loot grind.
Read Brad Shoemaker's full review
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Quick Look: Torchlight
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Torchlight PAX Teaser Trailer
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Torchlight is a single-player PC game in the style of Diablo with a MMO to follow 18 months to a couple years after. It is being developed by Runic Games which is comprised of the developers of Diablo, Fate, and Mythos.
Story
The story centers around a mysterious ore called Ember, which is the essence of magic and the keystone in alchemy. Word of Ember crossed the world, and the city of Torchlight was built. Miners dug deep beneath the streets of Torchlight, discovering ore richer than anyone has seen, but they were not the first to covet these mines. Buried along with the ore lays a buried past, a dangerous labyrinth of caverns and ruined civilizations, twisted creatures and the bones of those who came before. Evil bubbles up from the depths and threatens to overrun Torchlight as it has so many others. The heart of a villain has infused the Ember, and his darkness seeps through the veins. To survive, the townspeople must break the cycle of destruction; they need a champion who can destroy the evil at its root. Removing the source of the rot may purify the Ember, but it is a long and perilous journey. The champion must battle through rock and fire, through lost cities and ancient tombs, into the palace of the villain himself. Gameplay
The game consists of dungeons, or underground areas, with the only outside area being the town of Torchlight. The dungeons are randomized, but include handcrafted quests and unique bosses, including a true "end boss." According to Travis, after you finish the main game, "you'll be able to play in a separate endless dungeon for deep-delving style players, but this is entirely optional." Players will also have a pet that will follow you on your journey, which can be chosen as a Wolfish Dog or a Lynx-like Cat. The pet will have the ability to fight along your side, hold items, and even sell loot for you while you remain in the dungeon. It is able to equip two rings and an amulet, as well as learn spells to cast. Your pet can not die, but will flee when it is out of Health.Torchlight includes a total of five difficulty levels ranging from Very Easy to Very Hard. Additionally, there is a hardcore mode where if your character dies, they are dead for good and cannot be played. It is recommended that players familiar with this type of game start with at least the Hard difficulty. Players can also find special water holes in which to fish within the dungeons. The fish you catch can be fed to your pet. In doing so, your pet will transform into a monster for a temporary period although permanent transformations may be a possibility.
Classes
Torchlight launched with three classes, the Destroyer, the Alchemist, and the Vanquisher; essentially a warrior, mage, and archer, respectively. These classes are gender-specific.- The Destroyer is a melee based class that can summon an ancestral armor that latches onto his back and attacks anything in range.
- The Alchemist is a mage-like class that uses a special gauntlet on his left hand called the Focus Glove to shoot bursts of energy, or bursts of lightning.
- The Vanquisher is the only female class in the game, and is known to focus on ranged damage. The Vanquisher is part of an elite military unit of the capital city sent to Torchlight in disguise as an adventurer seeking treasure, but in reality she is there to investigate strange occurrences in the mines beneath Torchlight.
Modding
One of the key features for Torchlight will be the Mod tools that will be available at the time of Torchlight's release, it may also be included with the release. Players will be able to create their own dungeons with a tile based editor, edit damage tables, experience tables, monster tables, skill tables, loot table, and more. Players can create their own armors, their own skills, their own models. Player in effect can create their own classes that may use their own character models, and armor sets.Multiplayer
There will be no multiplayer for this version of Torchlight. However, following the release of Torchlight, Runic Games will shift their efforts into developing the MMO version of Torchlight using the same tools used in the single player version. The MMO will not be a patch or a expansion for the single player version, but standalone and free-to-play with micro-transactions.Soundtrack
The soundtrack will be composed by Matt Uelmen, who is best known for the soundtrack of the Diablo series. It is also said that he will compose the soundtrack for the MMO as well. Distribution
Originally Torchlight was only going to be available via PC digital distribution platforms including Steam, Direct2Drive, and from Runic Games directly. However, in September Runic revealed that the game would be available on store shelves from publisher Encore.Minimum system requirements
- OS: Windows XP SP3 or later
- Processor: Intel Pentium III 800 MHz processor
- Memory: 512 MB (1 GB Recommended)
- Graphics: DirectX 9.0c compatible 3D graphics with at least 64 MB of addressable memory
- Hard Drive: 400 MB
| Game Name | Torchlight |
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| Original US Release |
Oct. 27, 2009
need a fuzzy date? |
| Original US Release |
October
2009 know the real date? |
| Aliases |
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We don't have any info about Torchlight's franchise games.
